


Cupid Got Delayed

by laughter_now



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Established Relationship, Humor, M/M, Valentine's Day, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-17
Updated: 2012-07-17
Packaged: 2017-11-10 04:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laughter_now/pseuds/laughter_now
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Apparently, Leonard is in the doghouse. The problem is, he has no idea why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cupid Got Delayed

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anything associated with the Star Trek franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.  
> This one was written back in the days of Ship Wars. First posted to my lj-journal on May 29th, 2010.

**Cupid Got Delayed**  
  
  
This was ridiculous.  
  
For the record, Leonard had had every right to react the way he did. Besides, it wasn't as if he and Jim had never fought before. Frequently might be one word to describe how often it happened, and more often than not someone else was in the vicinity to bear witness to it. And since this entire damn crew consisted of immature gossips, it never took long until the whole ship knew that they were fighting.  
  
So really, Leonard shouldn't be surprised that everybody seemed well-informed about the state of his relationship. Didn't change the fact that it was none of their damn business. And fucking ridiculous to boot.  
  
What did surprise him was that everybody aboard not only thought it was their business that he and Jim were fighting, but also that they had to pick sides.  
  
And the crew loved their Captain.  
  
Now, Leonard knew that basically that loyalty was a good thing, as long as it was limited to concerns of the ship. The state of his relationship really shouldn't be subject to popular vote, especially not if Leonard for some reason he couldn't understand ended up being the villain. There hadn't even been a crime, but he had been sentenced without even being given the courtesy of a trial. By the entire damn crew.  
  
And for what?  
  
For saying no.  
  
Yeah, it was that ridiculous. And really, what had Jim expected when he came into their quarters, all but bouncing on the balls of his feet, declaring that this year Enterprise was going to have a Valentine's Ball? Seriously, had there ever been another possible answer? Was there any universe, in which Leonard H. McCoy would actually be _excited_ about the idea of heart-shaped cardboard decorations, god-awful music, and hormones and months of pent up sexual frustration between crewmembers unleashed at their Captain's command?  
  
Right.  
  
There wasn't.  
  
That wasn't him, as simple as that. Leonard didn't do the whole romantic bullshit, and Jim damn well knew that. He loved Jim, but Leonard didn't go for all the candles and flowers crap. And until now, Jim had never expected Leonard to be any different than he was in that regard, so he was completely stumped why Jim suddenly seemed so keen on celebrating a holiday that had been nothing but a commercial exploit for the past centuries. There was no deeper thought behind it, and now Jim wanted to celebrate it with a huge party?  
  
Which brought Leonard to another reason why Jim should have known it was a bad idea – Leonard didn't do parties. Being forced to attend a Valentine's Ball, along with five hundred other people who were equally forced to attend, being cheerful just because the occasion and the decoration all but demanded it?  
  
Yeah – not really Leonard's cup of tea.  
  
All of which were things Jim _knew_ about him, so one thing was perfectly clear: Leonard was the victim in this entire mess, most certainly not the villain.  
  
Okay, so he hadn't exactly liked seeing how Jim's excited expression had turned into one of disappointment at Leonard's gruffly muttered ' _you've got to be kidding me_ ', and admittedly it had stung a little when the kid had actually looked completely and utterly defeated when he had said his determined and final ' _No_ ' to the entire affair.  
  
Just because he loved Jim – and who was he kidding, he loved him with all his heart – didn't mean he had to agree with every fool-hearted plan Jim cooked up. How the hell this whole thing had blown out of proportion as it had, how a normal argument had developed into a ship-wide incident in less than a day, Leonard had no idea. He didn't even know how everybody knew, but fact was they did. Every- _damn_ -body aboard the ship knew that Leonard had said _no_ to the whole Valentine's Ball idea. And now everyone treated him as if he had kicked a puppy.  
  
Really, it was ridiculous. That was the only word for it.  
  
All Leonard had done was say no to Jim's idea. In private. But apparently, nothing stayed private on the Enterprise for long.  
  
Uhura giving him the evil stare had been the first sign of that. And that woman could convey entire messages with plenty of expletives in one silent stare.  
  
But it didn't stop there. Scotty kept calling him – and _him_ specifically – down to Engineering for emergencies that turned out nothing but splinters, bruised fingers or in one case even a damn sneeze. Not a cold or a flu, but a single _sneeze_. And every damn time Leonard had to go down to Engineering, a trek across half the ship, because he couldn't just ignore an emergency call because he suspected it was bogus.  
  
Chekov, on the other hand, didn't say or do anything. But every time Leonard saw him, the kid looked at him with such a wide-eyed and sad expression, just as if the fact that Leonard and Jim were fighting meant they'd put him up for adoption tomorrow.  
  
Even Spock – the _Vulcan_ – sought Leonard out. No evil stares from him, of course. Just a raised eyebrow, and in lieu of a stern talking to Leonard received a five-minute rant about productivity rates and how they had been going down for the past two days, in percentages and down to two decimals behind the comma. Leonard honestly would have preferred to be yelled at.  
  
Even Chapel was giving him the evil eye. Chapel, who was part of _his_ staff! She was supposed to be on his side, and not just because of department loyalties but because Leonard hadn't even done anything wrong. He had simply said _no_ when apparently everyone else had expected him to say _yes_.   
  
For two days this had been going on, and Leonard could honestly say that he was fed up with this crap. He was fed up with being glared at by people who normally were his friends, he was fed up with not understanding what the hell he had done wrong, and most of all he was fed up with how things were going with Jim since that fight about the Valentine's Ball.  
  
It wasn't even so much that Jim was angry because Leonard had been against the idea of a ball. That anger had been there, but it had evaporated and left a lingering disappointment and traces of hurt in Jim's eyes that Leonard could neither place nor explain, but which he really didn't want to see there.  
  
Two nights Leonard had spent on the uncomfortable couch in their living area. He might not know what this mess was about, but he damn well knew that they weren't going to sleep in the same bed while it felt as if he was being punished for something he didn't even remember doing. But he must have done _something_ wrong, at least in the eyes of everybody else.  
  
And that whole mess was the reason why Leonard was sitting in their quarters on the evening of Valentine's Day, feeling like an asshole without really knowing why, while the rest of the crew was attending the 1st Annual USS Enterprise Valentine's Ball. Because of course planning the ball had been well under way by the time Leonard had even gotten to know about it, and apparently his refusal to attend wasn't enough of a reason to cancel the whole thing.  
  
Leonard shouldn't mind this as much as he did, but he couldn't help himself. He still thought it was a stupid idea to celebrate something as outdated as Valentine's Day, but apparently it meant something to Jim, otherwise he wouldn't have reacted this strongly. Leonard just didn't _get_ it. Jim had never celebrated Valentine's Day before, and Leonard just didn't understand why today was so important to him. But it was important, because the hurt in Jim's eyes had been real.  
  
Damn it.  
  
For some reason, it hurt Jim that Leonard didn't want to be at the Valentine's Ball. And really, would it be that horrible to do Jim that one favour?  
  
With a sigh of epic proportions, Leonard admitted defeat. He got up from the sofa and left their quarters towards the Observation Deck. He figured that with nearly the entire crew squeezed in there, nobody would notice if he slipped in. The party was in full swing, after all, with people mingling, talking and laughing. Leonard took a few steps into the room, not really meeting anyone's eyes. He was just going to go find Jim, and then this whole mess was going to be over.  
  
The plan worked for all of three steps, then the first people noticed his presence and the room started to fall silent around him. Leonard felt a flush rise to his cheeks, and his eyes darted through the large room in hopes of finding Jim amongst all the people. He only needed to find Jim, then it wouldn't matter anymore that everyone was staring at him.  
  
"Bones?"  
  
Jim's voice had come from a less crowded area to his left, shielded partially from view by the tables carrying food. Leonard turned around, and when his eyes found Jim he no longer cared about whether or not Valentine's Day made sense to him or not. The smile on Jim's face and in his eyes was enough to make him question his own sanity for saying no to Jim in the first place.  
  
Leonard had no idea how he had gotten across the room, but suddenly Jim was right in front of him, blue eyes sparkling at Leonard with such unrestrained happiness that something inside of his gut lurched painfully. Leonard brought his hands up to reach for Jim's shoulder and neck, not particularly caring who was watching.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Jim smiled. "It's okay. You're here now, that's the main thing."  
  
Leonard huffed a laugh. "I heard there was a Valentine's party going on, how could I say no to that?"  
  
And it was definitely a Valentine's party, make no mistakes. There were heart-shaped decorations everywhere, the whole room seemed to glitter, the music was awful, the punch was too sweet and plates with cupcakes littered the buffet, their red and pink icing a promise of cavities and stomach aches. It looked like a scene from his nightmares, but Leonard didn't really care.  
  
People were laughing and patting him on the back as he passed as if he had been forgiven a grave mistake. Uhura smiled at him and Scotty stammered something about sending someone up to fix his replicator first thing in the morning, which was odd because Leonard wasn't even aware that it was broken. But the most important thing was that Jim was right there with him, at his side, laughing and talking just like he always did.  
  
Leonard probably would never admit to it, but he was actually enjoying himself, and the rest of the crew seemed to feel the same about the party. He only noticed that something was going on when once more people started to fall silent around him. Confused, he looked around, trying to find Jim and figure out what was going on.  
  
He was a bit startled when he turned to find Jim right there in front of him, something vague and undefined on his face.  
  
"Bones, I…"  
  
Jim's lips were moving, but suddenly he was going down on one knee, one of Leonard's hands held in his clammy palm, and the sudden roaring of blood in Leonard's ears drowned out all other sounds. Jim was still talking, and Leonard had the distinct thought that he needed to listen because he was going to want to remember this, but then there was something black in Jim's free hand, and Leonard's eyes caught a flash of silver just as Jim looked up at him with a weird mixture of hopefulness and raw fear in his eyes.  
  
He must have forced out a ' _yes_ ' then, or maybe an ' _of course, you idiot_ ', because next thing he knew Jim was in his arms and was kissing the everlasting life out of him while everyone cheered and clapped in the background.  
  
Maybe, just maybe, this whole fuss about Valentine's Day wasn't so ridiculous after all.

 

**The End**


End file.
